Salads

When you cut back on calories and cut out junk food, it changes how you see all food. Its like cleaning a glass. Everything becomes clear and bright and focused. Take a salad for instance. Before Jenny, I only ate salads when I went out to dinner. I was just too lazy to make a really good salad at home. It takes a lot of time and planning to make a salad, starting at the grocery store. It seemed so much easier to just eat quick, calorie dense food, like granola bars.

On my new eating plan, there is a salad every day at lunch time. At first I would just grab some packaged lettuce, maybe some jicama, red pepper and baby carrots and use the Jenny Craig dressing, (lite ranch or vinegarette). But my salads have evolved. One day I bought a big basil plant from Trader joes. That made me think about other fresh spices that might enhance my salads. I started a herb garden with basil, mint, cilantro and a few other things.

Here is todays salad: Fresh lettuce, red leaf or that live lettuce that come in a plastic carton with the roots still on it. Cherry tomatoes, red pepper, mushrooms. baby carrots, jicama, cucumbers fresh mint, fresh basil, Nonfat dressing; Asian Seseme seed, caesar,

Every bite is a burst of flavor. Because Im not filling up on junk food, I can taste the subtle flavors of the salad.